The House in Norham Gardens

Do you know that feeling of gratitude to an author - when you're so glad to have read a book and to have it as part of you? Why didn't I read this years ago? How can I share it with teenagers? The writing is rich - and accessible. I think it reads aloud very well. In one sense, the pace is slow but you're swept along by technique - intercutting, episodes, changes of focus. I shan't attempt to give you the story (please read it ) but here are some of the qualities: strength and wisdom in old age; space for people to grow; valuing the past as a context for our presence and, somehow, for its own needs; alertness to the present, with discrimination about its demands; and, especially, the intelligence, naturalness and generosity of Clare (14) whose perspective we have on events and people. A warm book, intriguing, questioning, funny, reassuring. Private? Perhaps, but it's not a fragile book. Read it with 30 people - there'll be a group experience and 31 individual gains.